Longtime Dormont theater needs new projector to keep up with digital age

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont has been showing movies since the 1930s, but if the nonprofit along Potomac Avenue can’t find the money to keep up with the digital age, the lights on the marquee could be going dark.

Theaters like the SouthSide Works Cinema are turning to $75,000 digital projector systems and phasing out the standard 35 mm film.

While the SouthSide Works Cinema has 10 of the digital projector systems, the Hollywood Theater is struggling to come up with the money to buy one.

“Studios, like Fox, are continuously putting pressure on smaller theaters to make that transition. We have to come up with the money for it though, and that's the catch,” said Hunter.

The theater is currently using a digital projector for DVDs.

Hunter is leading a fundraising campaign to raise the money for a new projector system. So far, the theater has raised $12,000, but Hunter remains hopeful they’ll meet their goal.

“I think the forecast is good. People are turning out to the Hollywood Theater,” he said.

The theater is leaning on its 5,000 Facebook followers, Dormont businesses and others to contribute.

The Hollywood Theater will hold its next fundraiser during a screening of the original “Night of the Living Dead” on March 2. The event will be an all-day festival featuring original cast members and autograph signings.

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